Teacher's Pet (OUAT)

Chapter Eleven

It was a finger jabbing into her ribs that had woken Emma from her sleep. The blonde, though, merely grumbled a complaint and shifted more comfortably in the spot where she was. Which, currently, she had no clue where the hell she was. It felt kind of lumpy and when she moved, her skin stuck to the surface.

It wasn't until another prod did she finally give in and open her eyes, momentarily confused by her surroundings and the looping title screen of a horror flick on the television. A much, much larger television than she had been used to at home.

"Welcome back, Emma." That husky voice sounding from beside her had Emma alert and awake in no time.

Crap, that was Regina.

Then she finally remembered where the hell she had been and that none of what had happened was part of a dream. This was real, and very much so. She turned to look groggily at the source of noise to be met with an equally as tired brunette.
"I could say the same for you," she mumbled tiredly, a yawn soon breaking from her throat. "You were out for most of the movie."

"I do apologize, dear. I hadn't slept well."

"I kinda got that." Emma smiled. "Did you nap well, though?"

"I slept like a baby." Regina beamed, folding her hands onto her lap. "And I must thank you for that."

"Must you? You were so... adorable," she whispered the last word before it had completely died on her tongue. "I mean, you just cuddled me... well, after you nailed me with your elbow. Have you ever noticed how goddamn bony that thing is?"

That had caused Regina to lift her arm and eye the offending elbow. "Well, I suppose that they are. They make for a great weapon?"

"Yeah, but not to your cuddle buddy." Emma hesitantly reached over to grab the older woman's arm and poke at her joint.

"Cuddle buddy?" The brunette blinked, her chocolate orbs on Emma's actions as she proceeded to prod at her elbow, for what she thought was really no good reason.

The blonde had nodded at the question, ceasing her movements only to wrap her arms around Regina's own. "Yes. You literally cuddled me in your sleep. I'm not sure what position you woke up in, but you had turned around and wrapped your arms around my waist. And just... snuggled."

The new information had Regina staring at the blonde, her body slightly rigid. "Well..." then a rosy blush bloomed vividly onto her cheeks.

"Hey, don't be embarrassed. I liked it." Emma reassured, the cheesiest smile on her pale lips. "Although, I've never been much of an affectionate person."

"I'll try not to-"

"But... I like the cuddly Regina." Emma whispered softly. "You didn't let me finish. I'm not much of an affectionate person, but I wouldn't protest to it if given to me... by you, at least." The blonde offered a sheepish smile before finally releasing the English teacher's arm, then tried to scoot even closer against the brunette. "I don't know what it is, but whenever I'm with you, I feel... at peace."

"You do?" Regina's arm slowly found its way around the blonde's waist, the warmest of smiles molding her lips.

Emma only nodded as she leaned into the older woman's arms, one of her own awkwardly wrapping around her abdomen. With Regina, everything always felt so different. She actually wanted to be touched by her, albeit it was quite strange and foreign, but it felt as if she were floating on a celestial cloud whenever she was around this woman.

These feelings that she had for Regina were far from the juvenile crush that it all had originated with. They had developed into something far more advanced than what Emma thought she could even handle because her heart felt small, and way too small to harbor all the love that she should be able to offer the brunette.